Long Time No See
by cellohero
Summary: Katniss has to coach her first set of Tributes, but who she finds has definitely gone beyond her wildest dreams, and she is reunited with an old...ahem...friend.
1. Chapter 1

I stared out the window of the train taking me to the Capitol, the one place I never wanted to go back to. The scenery was beautiful even in the dark of night, but I wasn't taking any of it in. I refused to watch the Reapings of the other Districts; it was bad enough I had to coach for District 12. I heard names being called, Careers volunteering, and Effie Trinket's voice sounding her routine "…and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" Wait. Effie Trinket? District 12! I flicked my head towards the screen Peeta had been entranced on for the duration of the trip. Effie was sporting her usual pink hair as she stepped back and let the mayor take the microphone. I looked back out the window, not interested anymore. It brought back to many memories. There was a ruffling of papers, and then I heard the words "Primrose Everdeen." Hold on. Prim! I jerked my head back towards the screen which showed my sister slowly making her way up the steps to where the orbs sat. Prim! I looked at Peeta. His mouth hung open in disbelief.

"I did everything I could, she only had to enter her name two times. How could she be reaped twice in a row!" I panicked. Then, words came from the television that I didn't even imagine I would hear.

"I volunteer." I stopped breathing. No way. This isn't possible! How? Why? And, more importantly, who?

"Hey, that girl looks like…" Peeta trailed off. She did remind me of someone, but… It wasn't possible. And she had blonde hair, not red. But that face, she could be her twin. Then she smiled, that sly, conniving smile.

"Foxface…" I breathed. What the heck was going on? How could she be alive? Why would she volunteer for my sister? None of this made any sense. "I'm her coach."

"Yeah, good luck," Peeta said. I could hear the smirk in his voice. Whoa there, Katniss, let's look at this realistically. That girl couldn't be Foxface. That wasn't possible. She was dead. Peeta's berries made sure of that. This girl was just a look-and-sound alike. I yawned, suddenly realizing how tired I was.

"I'm off to bed," I yawned again, picking myself up from the comfortable couch which had been my safe haven for the whole train ride. "We'll be at the Capitol in the morning, right?" I saw him nod in my peripheral vision. I fell through the door and dropped onto the bed. I curled up on my mattress and fell into a dream about losing a Tribute before the Games and having to fill in for them.

I woke up on the floor. The train hit a bump, and I jumped about an inch in the air, my head banging down onto the thinly-carpeted floor.

"Ouch…" I grunted as I slowly rose from the ground. I looked down at myself. _Forgot to change again…_ Ugh. I penguin-walked to my dresser and opened the top drawer. I randomly picked out an outfit pile and changed into it. Then I looked in the mirror.

"Whoa." My hair was still in an updo from last night's dinner, but since I had slept in it, it had turned into a mass of frizz and bobby pins. "Oh snap." I left my room and walked through the dining room to the hair and makeup cabin.

"Toger, I need some serious TLC," I told my stylist. Her body was died completely orange, like a spray tan gone wrong. On top of that, her hair was dark green. Whenever I saw her, I craved carrots.

"What did you do to yourself, child?" She asked in an almost mocking tone, but not for her.

"I feel asleep without changing again.

"Well, Toger's gonna fix that for _you_, my dead." Her voice popped up to a tone I could barely hear at the word "you." After an hour with Toger, I was deemed presentable, and she let me go to meet my first set of Tributes. _Be open-minded,_ I told myself. _The odds of her being Foxface are impossible._ I walked into the room where Peeta and the girl Tribute were waiting for me, and I shut the door behind me. The girl looked at me and smiled a familiar smirk.

"Hey, airhead. Long time no see."


	2. Chapter 2

"Airhead?" I cocked my head. "Don't call me that, Foxface." She looked at me funny and mouthed "Foxface?"

"It's my little nickname for you. I never knew your real name."

"Well, airhead's my nickname for you. You couldn't have acted more like one at the interviews." Now I got it. We didn't know each other's names, so we made some up after things we saw in each other. But airhead? Seriously?

"Well, you look like a fox. Foxface."

"Please don't call me that. My name's Cassie."

"That's a weird name. What's your real one?" She laughed.

"Aldra. I hate it." I laughed.

"I can see why you changed names." Then it dawned on me. Foxface was alive. Peeta didn't kill Foxface. What's going on?! "How were you able to fool the whole country of Panem?"

"Easy. I faked my own death. The berries Peeta had weren't poisonous, at least the ones I took. I'm not stupid. I pretended to be dead while the claw picked me up and dropped me on the train that was to take my body home. During my wake, I showed my brother that I was alive. You should've seen his face…" She smirked again. "Then, I told him that I was going to be buried alive, and it was his job to dig me up. I knew that my life was in his hands, but I might've died in the Games anyway, so if I was meant to die I was willing to let that happen."

"Wow. You're crazy," I commented. "Why didn't you just leave right then and there?"

"Because they would've suspected something fishy about me. My way, it looked like a mere grave robbery."

"I must admit," Peeta joined in. "That's pretty genius."

"Oh, I know," Foxface touted, flipping her hair behind her right shoulder. "I wanted a second chance in the Games. You guys were getting all the sponsors. Soon enough, I was gonna starve to death, and you guys were gonna win. That's why I volunteered, and that's why I escaped to District 12."

"But wouldn't they know that you weren't an actual resident of our district, or even Panem?" I tried to piece this together in my head, but it was impossible without a mind like "Cassie."

"I told then I was an immigrant. I was put into a jail for a while, but they set me free when I was deemed not a threat."

"How's your hair blonde? I thought hair dye was only allowed to be used by people in the Capitol."

"I bleached it. You know, that stuff we use for laundry? I was reading some forbidden books (it wasn't like I had anything to lose) and it said that if I soaked my hair in bleach, it would change colors. And it did." She flipped it again. Worked out fabulously, I must say.

"But- I just don't get it. How did you think of this during the Games. You were already stressed out."

"I do my best work under pressure," she replied with another sly smile.

"It's a shame," I said. "I liked your red hair." Foxface frowned.

"So did I. Oh well. It's either this, or death. I choose this." She pointed at her head.

"Do you think the Capitol will notice that this isn't your real hair color.

"If they do, I'll say I fell into a vat of bleach or something."

"You're a genius, Cassie." She smiled.

"I know."

"What if there's someone who's just as clever as you?"

"I'll think of a new plan, probably the same thing but in a different way. I choose my death." She smirked once again.

"You smirk a lot," Peeta said, pointing at her mouth.

"You lie a lot," she said, making the shape of a heart with her two hands, and then symbolically breaking it. I looked at Peeta.

"How did you know?" We said at the same time, looking at each other again.

"I know people." She smiled, but this time it looked genuine. "I read people."

"Foxface, you know if the Capitol finds out what you did, and finds out we're in cahoots with you, we'll face even worse penalty than they already want to inflict on us."

"Did you seriously just say 'cahoots?'" She laughed. Peeta gave a short chuckle. I glared at him, and he looked down.

"Well, Cassie, it's time to meet President Snow. Again." I smiled at her. There was no reason for me not to like her. She didn't bother me.

"Fantastic." We found the other Tribute's cabin, then made our way to the dining room cabin again. There, President Snow, Effie, and Haymitch sat at the ornate mahogany table with empty plates and cups. Snow stood up.

"Wow, Cassie. You look familiar…" He trailed off, deep in thought. I looked at Foxface, who was looking at me. We both had worried looks on our faces.

"Yes, you look much like someone I knew once. What was her name… Aldra?"


End file.
